, sleep was hard to obtain, especially for us cavalry men, by
reason of the uneasiness of our horses, which scarcely ceased for a
moment to neigh and kick and fight with each other. Troopers always
look upon this as a bad omen, and more than one old soldier, whilst
caressing and calming his restless charger, muttered a prediction of
danger at hand. For once, these military prophets were not mistaken.
About two hours after midnight, the bivouac was sunk in slumber, the
horses had become quieter, and the silence was rarely broken, save by
the warning cry of '_Sentinelle, garde a vous!_' when suddenly a few
dropping shots were heard, the drum of a picket rattled a loud alarm,
and a shout arose of '_Les Arabes!_' In an instant, the encampment, so
still before, swarmed like a hive of bees. Luckily we had all laid
down fully accoutred, with our weapons beside us, so that, as we
sprang to our feet, we found ourselves ready for action. The general,
who alone had a small tent, rushed half-dressed from under his
canvass. Our veteran colonel was on foot with the first, cool as on
parade, and breathing defiance. '_Chasseurs_, to your horses!' shouted
he in stentorian tones, hoarse from the smoke of many battles. At the
word we were in the saddle. On every side we heard wild and savage
shouts, and volleys of small arms, and the pickets, overpowered by
numbers, came scampering in, with heavy loss and in much confusion.
There was no moon, but by the starlight we saw large bodies of white
shadowy figures sweeping around and towards our encampment. Our
infantry had lain down in order, by companies and battalions,
according to a plan of defence previously formed, and now they stood
in three compact squares, representing the three points of a triangle;
whilst in the intervals the squadrons manoeuvred, and the
artillerymen watched opportunities to send the contents of their light
mountain-howitzers amongst the hostile masses. With whoop and wild
hurrah, and loud invocations of Allah and the Prophet, the Bedouin
hordes charged to the bayonet's point, but recoiled again before
well-directed volleys, leaving the ground in front of the squares
strewed with men and horses dead and dying. Then the artillery gave
them a round, and we cavalry dashed after them, pursuing and sabring
till compelled to retire before fresh and overwhelming masses. This
was repeated several times. There were many thousand Arabs collected
around us, chiefly horsemen; and